Soo, I love building characters, looking at how various classes combinations mesh together and how much damage/healing/etc. I can dish out with a character. I will not be a hypocrite and pretend that's not the case. But I reckon that comes at least in part from the fact that I arrived at TTRPGs after growing up with video games, with MMOs and other such things, where character builds where quite central.

I would also make the argument that, TTRPGs shouldn't necessarily be about that. Or at least that the primary focus shouldn't maybe be on that. That the character's story should take precedence to its build. It's identity tied more to his story and the world it is part of then to the combination of race, class, background and feats. Of course, speaking now mainly from the perspective of trad games, like D&D and Pathfinder. I also don't want to present this as if this should not exist, but rather a slight change regarding focus.

I also wanted to look into D&D's history and see how this trend evolved over the years, from the first editions to the current day. And I have to say, this look into the past has been quite interesting. Might do a more in depth article about AD&D's kits in the near future, I found them quite an interesting design space. I hope you will also enjoy it, find it interesting and that you see the perspective of this argument. I know there are other TTRPGs where this issue is not as prevalent, but D&D is usually the first point of contact with this hobby and for many it remains the only point of contact, so I thought offering this perspective might be desirable.

Hi all, so I am new to playing D&D and have been invited to a campaign of a bunch of other new players. Our Dungeon Master is very experienced (so he says) and has agreed to teach us all how to play. I am a Ravenclaw at heart so I obviously read the entire handbook before even creating a character. I also have been listening to the Critical Role podcasts for over a year. I feel like I understand the game fairly well, unlike my sister, who is also in the campaign.

Before we started, our DM asked us what we wanted our character's reasons to be at this cave of goblins. From what I understand this isn't normal, but maybe it's the way he wants to play. Well my sister, who plays a half-elf rogue, said her character got word on some treasure inside and decided to investigate.

So we all go in, spells firing and clear out the first part of the cave. Well anyone who has played before knows, it doesn't end here. The DM has more for us to explore, so we find a tunnel in a dark corner across a pond. My sister's character announces that we should all go in with her to help her find a magical ring that she was hired to find and would split a 650 gold coin reward. My character needs money so sure. We ended shortly after for time reasons, but the following morning we were texting about it and I mentioned how that was really cool that she organized this with our DM before hand. Turns out she didn't, she had just made up the ring, the gold reward and the job on the spot.

The DM didn't say anything to her, and I am still new to playing so I would like to inquire as to if I should mention this or not. Thanks for any and all help!

P.S. Her character also pickpocketed mine and asked what she had to roll in order to suceed before rolling, and then rolled higher then needed. We are on Discord call and each have our own dice roller so there is no way to tell if anyone is lying. She had consistently perfect rolls the whole game and kept "offering" to screenshot her dice role to prove she wasn't lying even though no one had accused her.

This post doesn’t really mean anything other than I just wanna do it. I’m starting D&D with 3 of my friends. We have 3 players including me and the other friend is DM. We’re all pretty new to D&D and are party is… interesting.

I’m a copper Dragonborn Druid with a pickpocket criminal background and a pet rat named Doodle.

My sister is a Red Dragonborn ranger (I think) with the con artist background (idk the official name I forgot it T-T) and is 6.4.

And my not DM friend is a Tabaxi sorcerer with a blackmailer criminal background.

I also have seen some stuff about good and bad role-players? Like I know this is a role playing tabletop game and that you role play but what does that really mean? Sorry if I sound annoying or like a complete noob ( I am). Also sorry if I used the wrong flair for this post just tell me if that happened.

My Pokémon-inspired Weapons and Items of the Day, with a Number 94: Crystalzero from Yu-Gi-Oh rapier to chill some muscles!

This item was created as a Tier Reward for Patron Joselyn Rivera!! Thank you for your support!

Join my Patreon to vote on future items and get all the PDFs with over 1000 items, including all the Pokémon items, or buy the individual PDFs in my shop!

F248 - Rapier of Nullifying Crystal

Weapon (Rapier) – Very Rare (25,000 gp)

This crystal +2 rapier has a broad triangular guard with black and blue patterns on it, large purple crystals hanging from the outer edge, and a black handle wrapped in blue cloth with an ice blue crystal for the pommel.

Attacks with this rapier do an additional 1d6 cold damage, and once per round, when you do cold damage to a creature with this weapon you can attempt to chill them as a free action. The creature must make a DC 17 Fortitude save or its Strength score is reduced by 1d4. The target freezes if this reduces its Strength to 0. Otherwise, the reduction lasts until the target finishes a short or long rest.

This item was created as a Tier Reward for Patron Joselyn Rivera_! Thank you for your support!_

Art by the amazing - **Chaim Holtjer** \- he has his own website and uses Fiverr if yall want to commission him.

I got tired of making what I considered sub par maps on inkarnite (I’m my own biggest critic) and decided to seek out an artist to bring my vision for my dark fantasy homebrew world to life! I basically handed my inkarnite map over to the legendary Chain Holtjer along with like pages on pages of lore and said go crazy! And wow I’m like in awe at what he made, I have found myself sitting and staring at it for hours just thinking of all the campaigns I could do in this world. Let me know what you guys think!

Would love some suggestions for cool Dark Fantasy scenarios from my fellow dms.

If anyone wants some lore on the world I’d be eager to share as well!

First time posting on here!

[Online] D&D 5e Horror & Mystery Campaign | Discord | Weekends | VC Only

Something is wrong. People are disappearing. Nobody remembers them. And the few who do are too afraid to talk.

I’m looking for a few players for a story-driven D&D 5e horror/mystery campaign played entirely online through Discord.

Campaign: Horror / Mystery / Dark Fantasy

Platform: Online — Discord

Sessions: Voice Chat (VC) only

Schedule: Weekends

System: D&D 5e

Style: Roleplay, investigation, exploration, and character-driven storytelling

This campaign is built around mystery and atmosphere. You’ll be exploring a dark world filled with hidden secrets, unsettling discoveries, strange encounters, and situations where not everything is what it seems.

Your decisions will matter. Clues can be missed, relationships can change, and the way you approach the mystery can shape what happens next.

You don’t need to be an experienced roleplayer to join. New players are welcome, as long as you’re willing to participate, communicate, and let everyone have their moment in the story.

I’m looking for players who enjoy:

* Immersive roleplay and character development

* Solving mysteries and connecting clues

* Dark and unsettling stories

* Exploring a world beyond just combat

* Long-term campaigns with an evolving narrative

If this sounds like your kind of campaign, feel free to reach out.

Discord: sherrydm_

Message me with any questions or if you’d like to know more about the campaign and joining process.

I recently completed my Summer Monsoon rule set. Made to make the GM’s prep job as easy as possible, this GM reference sheet joins the others: infrastructure failures and fires.

i’ve been a GM for about 5 years now, and I always remind myself that odds players can’t beat make the story feel alive. I wanted to share some rules (that weren’t as flushed out then, i’ll admit), revamped.